


Midnight Candle

by FireEye



Category: Final Fantasy VI
Genre: F/M, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-12-20
Updated: 2015-12-20
Packaged: 2018-05-07 19:57:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,205
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5469044
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FireEye/pseuds/FireEye
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>How to rekindle a fire with water.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Midnight Candle

**Author's Note:**

  * For [xsummoneryunax](https://archiveofourown.org/users/xsummoneryunax/gifts).



The embers of the sunken hearth set flame deep within her eyes.

Fiery, smoldering, _inferno_. But her body was so _cold_.

A tiny, surprised gasp escaped her when Locke flopped down at the hearth’s edge. A breathless _Hey there_ , sighed through her hair as he pressed a kiss to her temple. He fell back just as quickly to crouch beside the smoldering fire. Snow clung to his clothes and his hair, and clumped to his boots. A few tenacious snowflakes in his eyelashes glittered, catching the last light of the sun as it disappeared into the mountains. But a warm smile graced his lips, and Terra pulled the blanket tighter around her shoulders.

“You missed supper.”

Locke’s smile faltered.

“Couldn’t be helped,” he admitted. “Mountains can be tricky.” His eyes closed as he breathed in an easy sigh; when they opened again, they were on her. “Cyan... said you were out here alone.”

A muffled sound caught in her throat. Nothing of an explanation, but as much as Locke needed to hear. He tugged off his mittens, setting them together beside him.

“You don’t have to tell me, I only thought...” He stumbled over his words, but recovered quickly enough. “If it’s something I could help....”

Terra shook her head.

“It’s...” It wasn’t pride that kept her tongue, but a lack of words. “It’s the Night.”

At a loss, Locke frowned, inclining his head as he listened.

“The Long Night.” For a moment, Terra’s voice gained strength, before becoming small again. “I feel so...” Her teeth clenched in frustration, and she asked, “How can you stand it?”

“I don’t understand.”

How could he understand? Yet, having wielded magic, how could he _not_? The rush of power when the worlds eclipsed one another and the flood gates opened. The sense of overflowing. The little breath could have been a sob.

“I feel _empty_.”

Her gaze fell back to the coals, and Locke reached to brushed the stray loop of hair back behind her ear. His hand hovered above her shoulder, and, after an instant’s hesitation, he shuffled over to wrap an arm around her instead. She wasn’t crying, but a small, aggravated sniffle echoed in his ear as she pressed up against him.

“I’m _cold_.”

Pulling her fully into his arms, Locke brushed his knuckles across her cheek. To him, she didn’t feel cold. Nor feverish. His frown deepened, and he held her as she shivered. His gaze fell upon the small hearth fire.

“You been up to the hot springs yet?”

***

The sweltering humidity left a thin sheen of perspiration upon their skin. Locke had dropped his parka at the entrance, but Terra, unable to shake the chill that gnawed at her bones, had insisted on keeping hers, despite the smothering heat. Only the fact that Locke’s fingers were twined with hers as he led her deeper into the cavern kept her from tucking her hands in her sleeves.

Large flakes of stone overlapped one another, leading down to a natural pool. Steam drifted upward through great rifts torn in the cave ceiling, and the stars were cold, but the night sky was far away.

The water had a strange element to it; a sheen that danced across its surface. As Locke fussed with his bootlaces, Terra knelt at the water’s edge and dipped her fingers in the water. Warmth spread through her fingertips, traveling up her arm.

She was in the water before Locke was half-undressed. Enveloped in the water, she felt the same warmth sinking into the depths of her being. It wasn’t the same as magic, but it was similar. _Different_. It made her feel _whole_.

At the edge of the pool, Locke let out a sharp hiss. After an attempt at easing his way into it, toe-first, he gave a little shake of his head and slid into the pool in one go, barely making a ripple.

Terra watched his wavering expression as a blush crept up his cheeks. For all that her own skin was flush, _too hot_ was forever a foreign concept. But at last, he huffed and leaned back in the shallow end. And, when he found her staring, he grinned.

“Better?”

Terra nodded, smiling back.

Sitting up, Locke breathed a sigh, and rubbed the back of his neck.

“Legend has it a Goddess fell to earth, ages and ages ago. Before... Beyond memory. At first, she was angry... she used her power to stir up a war, and when she was defeated, the people trapped her deep underground.” He paused, glancing at her. “You might have heard it. No one knows where the legend came from. Who told it first. But in these parts, the story varies a bit. Instead of a war, they say she hid herself away in a cave and wept for what she had lost...” A wistful smile spread across his face. “That’s why the hot springs here are said to have healing power, from the tears of that Goddess.”

Terra drifted nearer, wiping her damp hair out of her eyes as she settled beside him.

“Isn’t that only a story?”

Cupping his hands in the water, Locke shrugged.

“I used to think Espers were a fairy tale, too.”

When he held out his hands to her, Terra couldn’t see his palms, or her own reflection. In the water Locke offered to her, only a void of stars. She looked up, the same stars flickered in the darkness above.

The stars vanished as he dropped his hands, and the water rejoined its source. With a small, contented smile, Terra pushed away again, drifting back to the warmer depths of the pool. Locke watched her from the water’s edge as she dipped under, only coming up for her breath.

It wasn’t much longer that Locke climbed out. Grabbing for one of the soft towels that had been left for bathers on a shelf, he briskly toweled off before going for his clothes. Once dressed, he threw the towel down like a blanket, and reclined to wait, letting his eyes drift closed.

Terra seemed in no hurry to leave the water.

“We might miss the Vigil if we stay much longer,” Locke pointed out, eventually . “And... trust me, you’re gonna want your hair to dry some before standing around in the dead of winter waiting for the sun to rise.”

***

Locke sidled up to Sabin, grabbing for the candle in his hand to light his. “Hey, give it here.”

“When’s the last time you were early for something?”

“When I didn’t have to trudge uphill through snow, both ways,” Locke murmured back, mirroring Sabin’s grin. Across the narrow street, Celes whispered something to Terra as she helped Terra light her own candle. Whatever it was made them both smile.

Shielding the little flame with her hand, Terra skipped over to his side. She inched up close, but not with the same heaviness that had been weighing her down before.

“Feeling better?”

Caressing the candle’s flame with her thumb, Terra nodded.

“I want to go back again tomorrow,” she said softly.

Locke smiled. “Sure thing.”

“You know that legend you were talking about?” she asked, peering at him over the tiny fire. “How does it end?”

**Author's Note:**

> I really hadn't intended the bit of end of magic!angst when I started out, it simply kind of pulled that way. But I hope you enjoy it! :)


End file.
